His Final Voyage
by shanfourteen
Summary: *QUITE HUGE SPOILERS FOR THE FINAL TWO EPISODES* His sacrifice meant everything, now his life gets remembered. Duke Crocker just wanted to go back to being a pirate.


**I needed to write something and this is the first thing that I've finished. First and foremost, the disclaimer. None of these characters are mine, they're all rightfully Syfy's. And secondly, I hope you enjoy!**

 **Happy reading. :)**

Nathan wished he couldn't feel this. Couldn't feel the hole ripped through his chest, couldn't feel the emptiness where his soul once was. Couldn't feel the ricocheted movement of foot touching ground as they marched the casket down the steps of the pier, couldn't feel the weight of the wood (and the body within) as it rested on his shoulder. Couldn't feel his tears as they pitter-pattered onto his suit, couldn't feel the numbness slowly making its way through his body.

But he could. He could feel it all. He almost wished for the Trouble back, the one where all he felt was Audrey's love on his fearless skin and knew Duke's loyalty in his fearful touches but he couldn't wish for that. He wouldn't. Their sacrifices would mean nothing if he gave in.

"You okay, kid?" Gloria asked, her hand on his shoulder and squeezing so hard he could feel her fingertips making indentations into his skin. There were six of them, each shouldering the hero that was worth so much more than this. Nathan and Dwight held the front with Gloria and Seth behind while Stan and McHugh stood at the back.

"No," Nathan answered honestly, the biting air sucking the softness out of his tone. It came out unfeeling and he was anything but. Gloria didn't say anything else, only squeezed his shoulder some more as their walk continued.

They finally arrived at the _Rouge._ Nathan didn't know how the rust bucket was still floating but the groans and moans it made as they delicately stepped onto it sounded as though it was in pain. _Me too buddy,_ Nathan thought, _me too._ As they manoeuvred into the centre of the deck, Nathan let out a noise that signalled this was the place. Together, the casket was lowered to the ground, wood on wood.

"Thank you guys," Dwight said to McHugh and Stan when Nathan edged himself silently off to the side. Gloria joined him moments later while Seth crossed his arms, unsure as always but it was paired with a deep sadness that had him tapping his foot against the floor.

McHugh nodded. "No worries," he returned, a smile full of sympathy. "The least we could do."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Stan called back over his shoulder as the two of them stepped off the boat to join the milling others on the pier. Vickie was at the forefront of the group, baby Aaron in her arms. Jody stood beside her, and Julia Carr next to her.

"Nathan," Gloria said, her voice pulling him away from the sunset he was trying to find something in. "The people, you've got to say something to them. Duke was trouble most of the time but he was a hero in the end."

Nathan nodded once and made his way to a spot in front of the wooden box. He cleared his throat a few times more than needed and Gloria whistled, calling everyone's attention. "I, um, I'd like to thank you all for coming today," he began. "I'll be honest, I wasn't sure how many of you would turn up today but I was hoping there'd be a fair few. To most of you, Duke was a pain in the ass. Hell, he was even a pain in the ass to me. There was no one more loyal than Duke Crocker, he just didn't want you to know it. He never took credit for the important things, never for the things that truly mattered. It was enough for him to know he'd made a difference. He cared even though his façade made you think he didn't. Duke gave his life for this town, gave his future so that we don't have to live in fear any more. We owe him so much, _I_ owe him so much, so the least we can do is honour him. Duke Crocker was the bravest man I've ever met but now it's up to us. We have to be brave, be strong, be everything that makes us _human_. For ourselves, for our families, for our future as a town, and as the survivors of the brutal history we had no choice in being a part of. And Duke isn't the only representation. We've all lost loved ones, every single person that stands here and every single person that doesn't. We have to be the heroes now, and our losses are our origin stories." Nathan paused and breathed deeply, allowing the words to settle. "Thank you all for coming." He knew he should leave them with something better than that but his words had left him now.

Dwight moved to untie the rope holding the _Cape Rouge_ to the pier, his movements slow. There was only the four of them left on the boat now, heavy shoulders and dropped heads. They began to float toward the entrance of the port and before long they were on the open sea. Haven could still be seen but only as a shadow, Dwight's handiness in steering the _Rouge_ had left them exactly where they wanted to be.

"He'd have hated this," Gloria said after a few minutes of complete and utter silence once Dwight had dropped the anchor. They hadn't talked on the way, either. Nathan had sunk into Duke's chair and Seth had sat exactly where he'd been standing, his legs now crossed. Dwight had slid down the side of boat, one knee up and one arm resting on it. Gloria still stood. She always stood.

"Get up, Nathan, right now," she said, her words so sharp they shattered the walls Nathan had enclosed himself in. They made him look at her. They made them all look at her. "This isn't what he wanted. You told all those people that they have be _human_ and this isn't that. Mourning and grief and guilt and sadness are all natural but the pushing through of them is what truly matters. Getting to the other side. Allowing yourself to be happy despite the heartbreak." She grabbed Nathan's arm and pulled, forcing him to follow her as she stood at the side of the casket. "You two, up." Gloria pointed to Dwight and Seth separately. "Place your butts at each of the ends."

"Why are we doing this?" It was Dwight who asked the question, tiredness seeping out of his everything. He and Duke hadn't had the best relationship but it was one built on a mutual respect of arguing. A begrudged affection that meant Dwight now had a Duke shaped hole in his life just as his town did.

"Honouring, is what Nathan said we're doing, so-" Gloria's sentence was cut off by Nathan's voice, low and hiding nothing.

"I wouldn't be who I am without him." Dwight and Seth looked toward Nathan, their eyes revealing a relief at the now non-silence. "Years ago, I was thinking of quitting. I wasn't happy in the force, and my father's constant negative statements were something I wasn't able to get passed anymore. Duke and I were playing pool down at the Wharf Grill and I mentioned it to him, that I was thinking of not being a cop anymore. A week later, I got sent manifests of an illegal operation ran by Nick McGuinness. I nabbed him, put him away and I kept on being a cop. I'd even looked good in front of my father, which started the next chapter for both of us. Now that he saw that I could do it. Be like him." Nathan paused, regaining a little of the composure that was quickly but surely falling. His eyes were glistening and there was something in his throat. He forced himself to keep going. He needed to. "Duke did it. Gave him up. _Didn't like the competition_ he told me. He would have made a hell of a lot more money had they partnered up but he dimed on him. Gave him up," he repeated. "For me." He swiped at his eyes, his fingertips wet as he pulled them away. "Living without Duke's going to be hard but I'll always be able to feel him." Nathan touched the casket, the cold of the wood seeping into his palm as he didn't take it away. "We'll always be able to feel him."

Seth raised his hand and Gloria rolled her eyes at him, nodding. "I, uh, I didn't know Duke for as long as you guys did. I even forgot about him a few times but that's never going to happen now. He's in my past for the long haul." He bit his lip as if unsure how to keep talking but he cleared his throat once, twice, before speaking again. "He's kind of my role model now, not that I'd ever expect to _be_ him. If I leave this place half the man he was, I'll be happy." He leaned forward and placed his hand against the wood.

"He helped me find my way back to my daughter." It was the only thing Dwight said for a few moments but he still had the attention when he continued. "He helped save my town. I don't know if I'll ever be able to repay him for that. He also called me Sasquatch. At first it was annoying, in fact it, uh, it never stopped _being_ annoying. But I'm going to miss it. I'm going to miss him." Dwight's own hand found the wood and stayed there. Three palms of a three who missed him rested on three of the wooden panels that made the casket.

There was only one left. She already had tear tracks down her cheeks but she was smiling. "Duke Crocker was the kid I never had. Nobody really ever knew this but he'd spend time with me in the morgue, when he was supposed to be in school. We'd share stories, mine real and his made up, and laugh 'til we cried. Sometimes we'd even tell sad stories and we'd cry 'til we laughed. I always knew he'd grow up to be _good_. The way his brain worked, there was no way he wouldn't. He was an old soul, understanding much more than he let on. He was thoughtful, loyal to a fault, brave. A hero." Gloria sniffled. "He was also a sarcastic son of a bitch, too. I hope you're having one for us up there, buddy." Her hand rested on the wood, her fingers splayed so the whole of it was touching.

"I'm sorry Audrey isn't here," Nathan said after a moment, to no one in particular. "I wish she was, for you." His eyes then flicked down to the casket, as if he could see through it. "For her. For us, even," he continued. "You two made the greatest sacrifices one can make, and I'll spend the rest of my life trying to make up for that. And it will always be trying, 'cause I don't know if I have enough years left to make up for all of it." Nathan took a deep breath. "You just wanted to go back to being a pirate again." He gestured around him with the hand that wasn't touching. "I hope this suffices."

"You were the greatest pirate I've ever met, Duke Crocker. Enjoy the voyage, my friend."


End file.
